 | A selection from the verses of John B. Tabb |  |
5
To ALICE MEYNELL the Maker of this Selection With the Author's very grateful Acknowledgment of her Kindness
37
GOOD NIGHT!
Good night, dear Lord! and nowLet them that loved to keep
Thy little bed in Bethlehem,
Be near me while I sleep;
For I—more helpless, Lord—of them
Have greater need than Thou.
38
MISSING
Thou that didst leave the ninety & the nine
To seek the one,
Behold, among the many that are mine,
A lamb is gone.
To seek the one,
Behold, among the many that are mine,
A lamb is gone.
The one perchance the worthiest to be,
Dear Lord, with Thee;
And so the saddest for the Mother's heart
With him to part.
Dear Lord, with Thee;
And so the saddest for the Mother's heart
With him to part.
O Thou, Thyself a mourning Mother's Son,
Fold close my little one!
Fold close my little one!
56
THE MID-SEA SUN
No peak to hide his splendour till the dayHas passed away;
Nor dial-shade of any tree or flower
To mark the hour:
A wave his orient cradle, and a wave
His western grave.
80
LIGHT IN DARKNESS
The day—of sorrows pitiless—
Proclaims “He is not here”;
But never hath the tenderness
Of Night denied thee near.
Proclaims “He is not here”;
But never hath the tenderness
Of Night denied thee near.
Nay, with the twilight sympathy
Returning from afar,
She wakes again for memory
The dawn-extinguished star.
Returning from afar,
She wakes again for memory
The dawn-extinguished star.
88
LIFE
Me, in the midst of dateless centuries,
By Love concealed,
Now, newly swathed in mortal destinies,
Hath Time revealed.
By Love concealed,
Now, newly swathed in mortal destinies,
Hath Time revealed.
A breathing space, a silence, and behold
What I have been,
Unswathed, the circling centuries enfold,
Again unseen.
What I have been,
Unswathed, the circling centuries enfold,
Again unseen.
With Days & Nights brief fellowship was mine;
But unto thee
I come, a child inseparably thine,
Eternity.
But unto thee
I come, a child inseparably thine,
Eternity.
102
THE FALL OF THE SPARROW
Are you dying, little Bird?
“Yea; the song so often heard,
And the gift of suffering,
Back to God again I bring.
“Yea; the song so often heard,
And the gift of suffering,
Back to God again I bring.
“All in each, and each in all,
Counting in the Sparrow's fall,
By the power of sinless pain
(His and ours) He cleanseth stain.
Suffering, He deigned to die
Poor and innocent as I.”
Counting in the Sparrow's fall,
By the power of sinless pain
(His and ours) He cleanseth stain.
Suffering, He deigned to die
Poor and innocent as I.”
119
POE'S PURGATORY
All others rest; but I
Dream-haunted lie—
A distant roar,
As of tumultuous waters, evermore
About my brain.
Dream-haunted lie—
A distant roar,
As of tumultuous waters, evermore
About my brain.
E'en Sleep, tho' fain
To soothe me, flies affrighted, and alone
I bear the incumbent stone
Of Death
That stifles breath,
But not the hideous choruscrying “Shame!”
Upon my name.
To soothe me, flies affrighted, and alone
I bear the incumbent stone
Of Death
That stifles breath,
But not the hideous choruscrying “Shame!”
Upon my name.
Had I not Song?
Yea; and it lingers yet
The souls to fret
Of an ignoble throng,
Aflame with hate
Of the exulting Fate
That hurls their idols from her temple fair,
And shrines me there.
Yea; and it lingers yet
The souls to fret
Of an ignoble throng,
Aflame with hate
Of the exulting Fate
That hurls their idols from her temple fair,
And shrines me there.
156
TRIUMPH
Despite the North Wind's boast,Despite the muffled host
Of hushing snow,
There cometh from below
Out of the darkness wakened, one by one
The dreamers of the Sun—
Not in the bleak array
Of winter, but with fragrant banners gay
Leaping the barriers strong
Of Ice, and loosing Song,
The prisoner, and letting go
Long-fettered Laughter, as the shadowy Foe
Shrinks from the echoing cry
Of “Life and Victory!”
157
MY ANGEL
O little child, that once was I,
And still in part must be,
When other children pass me by,
Again thy face I see.
And still in part must be,
When other children pass me by,
Again thy face I see.
Where art thou? Can the Innocence
That here no more remains,
Forget, tho' early banished hence,
What Memory retains?
That here no more remains,
Forget, tho' early banished hence,
What Memory retains?
Alas! and could'st thou look upon
The features that were thine,
To see of tender graces none
Abiding now in mine,
The features that were thine,
To see of tender graces none
Abiding now in mine,
Thy heart compassionate would plead,
And, haply, not in vain,
As Angel Guardian, home to lead
The wanderer again.
And, haply, not in vain,
As Angel Guardian, home to lead
The wanderer again.
158
TO HER THREE DAYS' CHILD
I only, its mother, have known
The life that is taken away.
As the grape and the vine have we grown
Hour by hour, day by day,
Flesh of flesh, blood of blood, bone of bone.
The life that is taken away.
As the grape and the vine have we grown
Hour by hour, day by day,
Flesh of flesh, blood of blood, bone of bone.
As it was, evermore must it be,
O Babe from thy mother removed;
As light unto shadow are we,
Each in other approved,
Two in one, and in God, one in three.
O Babe from thy mother removed;
As light unto shadow are we,
Each in other approved,
Two in one, and in God, one in three.
159
AVE ATQUE VALE
Where wast thou, little song,
That hast delayed so long
To come to me?
“Mute in the mind of God:
Till where thy feet had trod,
I followed thee.”
That hast delayed so long
To come to me?
“Mute in the mind of God:
Till where thy feet had trod,
I followed thee.”
Farewell! I go my way;
And if in long delay
Thou must remain,
Forget not, 'tis the track
We trod, that leads us back
To God again.
And if in long delay
Thou must remain,
Forget not, 'tis the track
We trod, that leads us back
To God again.
| A selection from the verses of John B. Tabb | |